Cane the Wolf: Conflicting Interests
by TWINKIEMUNCHR
Summary: This is a remake of an old fanfic I made when I was fourteen. It's about my Sonic FC, Cane the Wolf. It follows his times, his time in the Royal Army, as a close friend to the Freedom Fighters, and even to darker places of his personality, finally culminating in a sort of aggravating love triangle. :p If that sounds at all interesting, than yeah, have at it.
1. Unsure

Cane the Wolf

Chapter One: Unsure

The sun was high in the sky today, peaking from between the fluffy white clouds and down at the green fields that were the usual for the beautiful land that surrounded New Mobotropolis. But along one of the many dirt roads leading to and from the city, the normally peaceful scene was interrupted by a cloud of dust, moving steadily towards the city walls. This disturbance was left behind a convoy of trucks. Armored Personnel Carriers of the Royal Army. In the back of each, sitting along opposing rows of benches, were a dozen soldiers, fresh from the front lines of war with Eggman's Dark Egg Legion. And sitting in the back of truck number three was Cane. The wolf rested his rifle in his lap, all present were silently thinking, remembering the battle they had left, and wondering what was to be their futures. This convoy only now consisted of four trucks, much less than the mass that had driven now all the way from the former Forward Operating Base in the Northern Tundra. Most of the others had disbanded at Fort Acorn, but Cane had other orders. He was to undergo some sort of assessment. To see if he was deemed safe for re-deployment, possibly back to the same location he'd just left. He didn't know who he was to meet, but he knew that look on the faces of his Commanding Officer, that this was big. Cane didn't really care. He only wanted back into the fight.

The city's initial checkpoints and identification slowed the traffic, but once through that, Cane watched out the exposed back of the truck, as the cityscape rolled by. The entire place was beautiful. New Mobotropolis' walkways were of red dirt, the huts that the residents called home were cheerfully decorated, gardens and lawn ornaments dotted each yard that the trucks passed. Some children even stopped at the side of the road, and waved to the passing troops. None waved back, though. As they went further into the city, the huts became small stone buildings, businesses and offices, but all still held that happy charm of the residents before had. Cane only paid passing attention to that, though. He looked down at his watch. It was three. They were slightly behind schedule to get to the palace, and Cane didn't like it. The sooner off of this thing the better, he thought. So when the call came from the front that they were approaching the castle in the city center, it landed on approving ears. Each soldier slung his pack over his shoulder, and then hung their rifle from the sling that was attached to it. Cane closed his eyes, and exhaled calmly, as his truck screeched to a rough stop in front of the palace grounds.

Cane was one of the first out of the truck, and therefore, one of the first to view the palace. For Cane, he saw it for the first time. The Castle of Acorn was monumental. The walls stood tall and stark in contrast against the perfectly manicured grass that surrounded it. The flags of the Republic of Acorn were on each protrusion, with it's front steps looking like an open invitation to visitors. The moment the trucks were emptied of troops, they screeched off, eager to make up time and return to Fort Acorn early. The troops dispersed. For this group, it was leave. And most were going straight to visit with their families. Cane would too, in good time, but for now, he had his orders. Walking up to the front doors, Cane sighed, noticing two burly guards looking down on him. "Tags, soldier." The one on the right stepped forward, and held out his hand. Cane reached under his uniform, and unclipped his dog tags from around his neck. After a quick look at the serial number, the guard nodded. "Mr. Prower is waiting for you." He shared. "Go on in." Cane didn't need to be told again, but there was something with that name. Walking inside, Cane knew why the name Prower was familiar. Waiting in the center of the palace's main hall, was a vaguely familiar young man. A fox who Cane remembered was named Amadeus Prower, commander of the entire Les Braves Battalion, stationed at Fort Acorn. He was basically the head of a bulk of the Royal Army. "Private Cane, right?" The fox smiled, approaching Cane, and offering him his hand. Cane saluted, and then shook the young commander's hand. "Yessir." Cane nodded. Amadeus chuckled, and shook his head. "I was quite excited to meet you, Private, I've heard much of the work you did in the Northern Tundra." He smiled. "Thank you, sir." Cane once again smiled slightly, with a professional nod. "Come this way, Private, my quarters are just down the hall."

Amadeus' office was huge. There was a large oak table in the center, and on the walls there hung picture frames. Dozens of medals and certificates lined his walls. Cane had to respect it, but didn't very much admire it. Taking a seat across from where Amadeus had sat, Cane crossed his right leg over the other. The commander looked for a minute a little surprised at the soldier's casualty, but smiled to himself. He liked the new recruit. "Alright, so are you aware of the reasons for our meeting?" Amadeus asked. Cane nodded, and swallowed an ounce of anxiety as he responded. "You're supposed to assess me. Make sure I'm not crazy, I suppose." Cane grinned, letting a little bit of personality into his soldier act. Amadeus shook his head. "We only need to know if you're mentally fit for returning to a combat role yet." He assured. "Now, it says in your file you were born in the Northern Tundra, correct?" He asked. Cane nodded. "You don't really have any records up there." He noted, looking over a rather thin stack of papers. Cane gulped to himself, but nodded anyways. "Yessir, I didn't live in any one place for more than a year before moving, so I rarely had time to acquire a solid identity there." Amadeus nodded. "How many moves are we talking about?" He asked, more out of curiosity than anything. Cane chuckled. "Twenty-five different houses before the war got bad." He shared. The commander looked up from his papers, and raised a brow. "Wow, a little unstable, huh?" Cane's eyes widened for a split second, as he realized the commander's angle. "I had a good family, and a good childhood, sir. I don't regret any of it." Amadeus nodded, smiling at that. "So why did you join our ranks?" He asked, moving on aptly to the next topic on his paper. "I wanted to join the resistance up there initially, but I first wanted to make sure my sister and mother received refugee status here in your city." He admitted. Amadeus nodded. "You look out for family first, that's good." Cane smiled, though he knew deep down he would've joined immediately had his mother given that choice. But that wasn't important right now, anything that impressed the commander would help. "And so your main reason for joining was refugee status?" He questioned. "That, and once I was here, the Royal Army presented the fastest route back into the fight up north." Amadeus for once seemed a little disappointed at this answer. "You're reckless then?" He asked. Cane smiled, but shook his head. "I'm patriotic. I wanted to do something worthwhile." Amadeus once again merely nodded, and moved on, writing some notes into his clipboard. Cane wanted to lean over and check what he'd been writing, but he suppressed that urge, and waited until he was done, and asked his next question. "So the next question is probably my most important." Amadeus shared. There was a noticeable pause in Cane's breath, which Amadeus' trained eyes noticed, and would not forget. "How was your first tour?" Cane raised his brow, wondering to himself why this was such an important question. "It was tiring, lots of walking and some pretty hairy missions, but I handled it, and I want to get back as soon as I can." Amadeus jotted the final of his notes into his paper, and then, with one more thoughtful look over Cane, he stood. Cane followed suit, and the commander once again offered a hand, which Cane happily shook. "I have other meetings, Private, and no doubt you want to see your family, so you're free to enjoy your leave." He smiled. Cane nodded, and with one more salute, he turned, and headed out the door.

The brief nature of the meeting with Commander Prower bothered Cane some, but as he walked towards his family's setup, he was distracted by his surroundings. The city was almost intimidating in it's size. There had to be thousands of people living here, and each one seemed as blissfully unaware as the last. As Cane walked down the roads of town, in his combats and beret, he received some waves and even salutes from passing Mobians, some stopped him to say thanks for fighting the war, some merely nodded respectively to the wolf as they passed, but all seemed to think pretty highly of their nation's military. That was strange to Cane. Back in the Northern Tundra, anyone in a uniform was seen with fear, which Cane knew was more effective than respect, but he preferred the latter. Uniforms and rifles up there meant get inside and wait it out. Cane sighed, thinking once again about his friends up north, specifically Suzy and Kaya, he knew Suzy wasn't happy with his choice to leave. Well, not really a choice, as his army had withdrawn, but Kaya and Suzy weren't in the Royal Army, they were part of the resistance fighters. So they were still there. Doing well enough, Cane hoped, as he kept moving along the paths through town.

That was another thing on the wolf's mind. Family. He knew he was close to the New Mobotropolis Times where his sister worked, and relatively near his mother's bakery, but deep down, there was something stopping him from visiting just yet. So the moment that Cane saw the park, he took that opportunity, and began to stroll down the bright, cheery paths and around the ponds of the city's interior parks. Still, he couldn't seem to focus, something was wrong. Too much was on the wolf's mind. Too much for him to even be watching his path, because in a sudden jolt, Cane hit the ground.

Looking around slightly embarrassed, Cane scanned until he spotted a pure white hedgehog, on the ground in front of him, and groaning, rubbing a bruised arm. "Oh, damn, sorry, buddy." Cane apologized, quickly jumping to his feet, and then helping the Mobian up. "No, no, it's cool." The hedgehog groaned, but something about him caught Cane off guard. "You look… Down, you alright?" Cane asked. The white hedgehog rubbed the back of his head, and laughed. "Umm, yeah, sure, just… Distracted." He assured. "You're not alone." Cane nodded, offering the hedgehog a hand. "Cane the Wolf." He introduced. The stranger smiled at that, and shook the wolf's hand. "Silver. The Hedgehog, nice to meet you, Cane." He nodded. "You're military, huh?" Silver asked. "That would probably help explain why you're stressing." He joked. Cane nodded. "Les Braves Battalion, like most. And what's your reason?" Silver's breath hitched, and he suddenly blushed, flustered, and trying to think of an excuse. "Um, well, s-school?" He tried. Cane raised a brow. "You're a bad liar." He teased. Silver slapped his forehead, and sighed. "Wow, I really am." He said, his shoulders slumped. "Is it okay if I leave that out? I can't really tell you." He asked. Cane shrugged. "I'm not picky." He nodded. Silver smiled. "I appreciate that." He exhaled. But then something dawned on the hedgehog. He'd been out here for a while now, thinking to himself about his own problems. Maybe there would be some use in another person's opinion. "Umm… Could I ask you your thoughts on something?" Silver asked. Cane was curious of this. "Yeah, sure."

"Sit down." Silver sighed, sitting at a park bench that stood along the pathway. Cane noticed the tension in his voice, and taking a seat, it was obvious Silver was thinking over every word carefully. "So, what's on your mind?" Cane wondered. Silver once again sighed, a noise that Cane figured he'd get used to. "So, I'm sort of from the future." He shared, looking to Cane as if expecting him to burst into laughter. "Um, okay, is this hypothetical, or symbolism, or are you really, like a time traveler?" The wolf asked. Silver nodded. "Totally legit time traveler." Cane almost laughed, and Silver noticed, almost feeling like hitting him, but then he kept going. "Well, in the future, it's pretty bad. Everything's destroyed, and nobody's really around, or it was, but… Well, I solved it a while ago, but I can't get back, or, well, I might be able to, but I'm not sure if I want to. I have a team- f-friends here. And… I really like this place."

Cane didn't really know if he should believe his new friend, or commit him to an asylum, but either way, he figured he should at least have the respect to give him a fair opinion. "Yeah, okay…" Cane chuckled, sort of tripped out by Silver's story. The hedgehog laughed, and nodded. "I get that about every time I tell that story. But honest, it's true." Cane shrugged. "Well, if so, then that whole time thing is only a distraction, it's no different than deciding whether or not to move home. I know I'm tempted to go back to where I come from." He shared. Silver nodded, but seemed dissatisfied with his answer. "Listen. The things that you have here, people, the places, your things, all you really have to do is weigh them on a scale against the things you left behind. Whichever one you value more, well, that's the answer." Silver groaned. "I know, I know that, it's just…" Cane nodded. "I understand, you want an answer, not a philosophy, but that's pretty much all I can do, I can't make the decision for you." Silver grumbled to himself. "I know." Cane laughed. "Frustrating, isn't it?" He teased. Silver nodded. "So what's your problem? Bad tour?" He asked. "No, the tour was… well, yeah, I guess it got pretty hairy, but that's not it, it's family." He grumbled. "Yeah?" Silver questioned. "Yeah, I literally got back an hour ago, or something like that, and I… Really, for some reason, don't want to see them yet." Silver nodded. "Well, I guess we're both messed up." He chuckled. But as the two laughed at that, a young Mobian, a lynx ran up. "Silver!" He called. The two looked over, and Silver smiled. "Oh, hey, Larry, what's up?" He asked. "Harv- Um, I need you to do something, come with me." The lynx stopped short, just like Silver had, and Cane was noticing it. "Alright, guess you gotta go, nice meeting you, hedgehog." Cane nodded, standing up, and offering Silver a hand. Silver shook it, and chuckled. "Uh, yeah, cool meeting you, Cane, I gotta go." And with that, the pair were gone. Cane was almost tempted to see where they were headed, out of curiosity as to their secrets that they were so obviously trying to keep. Not that they were any good at it, Cane had known Silver ten minutes and he knew something was off.

But that was alright, because, despite this weird feeling that he shouldn't go home yet, Cane knew he was going to have to. So now, he turned back down the dirt roads he'd taken, and towards his mother's house and bakery to the north

The night now blanketed the city of New Mobotropolis in a veil of black. The moon hung over the city, and gently lit the streets and homes with a cool bluish light. But the windows of the citizen's huts were warmly lit in oranges and yellows. This was almost considerably true for Roxy's Bakery. Inside, Cane sat, lounging, and speaking to his family.

Ashley the Fox, Cane's sister was sitting on the ground near the fire place, listening to Cane and Roxy the Fox, their mother, argue. They'd once again come to an impasse while talking about life back north. Ashley rolled her eyes. They'd only been away from that life for a few months, and these two were talking about it like it had been years. "Why are you so persistent? All the Royal Army requires is that you go on one tour!" Roxy argued. Cane sighed. "Yeah, well trust me, I'm not just sticking around this place, Suzy and Kaya are still back there, and I go where they go!" Roxy's eyes were slightly watery again. It was something that happened whenever it became clear that Cane was not going to leave his post. "Well how long are you staying here?" Ashley asked, more so on her mother's side than her brother's. "Two weeks leave here, and then I'm hopping back on the first truck going north." Cane asserted, giving a stern, but still loving look to his mother. Roxy sighed. "Well, at least it's two weeks to change your mind." She smiled hopefully. Cane frowned, but there was a slight glint of joy in his eyes. "Well, good luck with that." He sighed. "But I'm tired." Standing up, the wolf stretched out his arms, and then looked around. He'd never been in this house. The only reason he was here in the first place was leave, and he hadn't taken much time to get to Fort Acorn the first time through. "Where'll I be sleeping?" He asked. Roxy grinned, obviously understanding that her son was tired. "I'll show you." She stood, and before leaving the room, Cane turned back to his sister, with a yawn. "This whole reunion was a little short today, but I'll talk to you tomorrow, kay girl?" He smiled. Ashley nodded, and yawned herself. "Cool, seeya then."

Ashley went back to her own place, and Roxy to her room. Cane soon was in bed, and reclining on top of the sheets. It'd been the first time he'd been in a genuine bed in a long time. And it was nice. But as he thought through the events of the day before him, Cane realized why he'd been so reluctant to visit his girls.

He was scared that when the time came to return to the fight, he would no longer want to.


	2. Frustration

Chapter Two: Frustration

It was out of pure habit that at five in the morning, Cane's eyes slowly opened. But this time, for the first time in a few months, his first view of the day was not the arctic canvas of an army tent. Instead, that rugged sight was replaced by an actual ceiling. The wolf chuckled to himself, wondering how ceilings had become such a novelty, as he sat up, and pulled on his boots, gloves, and his necklace. That was another thing different when on leave. Cane, for once, was allowed to dress in his usual. No beret and BDU, only his normal getup, consisting of oranges and blues mixed in with a lot of black. Standing to his feet, Cane eagerly went to the kitchen, and put on a pot of coffee.

It was a pleasant morning to say the least. Half an hour later, and Cane had gone through half the pot. But as he sat there, sipping at his java and reclining in the warm sun, something troubled him. There was this feeling in his gut. A sort of unease that threw him for a loop. He knew it had something to do with his absence from the fighting up north, and he knew that it also hinged on his own insecurities. Insecurities that were based on his suspicions that when he would return to the north, he would have lost something in himself. Either weakened skills, or will to fight would see him sink. That got him to thinking. Maybe he should hitch a transport out to Fort Acorn today and train with the others? He didn't know anyone here personally, but it had to be better than just sitting around the bakery.

That thought, though, was quickly interrupted by the sound of his mother's bedroom door creaking open. Smiling tiredly, Roxy emerged from her cave, and rubbed her eyes. "Up already?" She yawned, though her smile still showed through. "Yeah, I'm not exactly allowed to sleep in anymore." Cane laughed. His mother nodded, and moved to take a seat across from her son. "So, my little soldier, what've you got planned for today?" She asked. Cane shot her an annoyed look, but sighed. "I think I'll head to Fort Acorn." He shared. Roxy's features fell into a frown, and Cane knew what was coming. "You just got back!" She protested. "I know." Cane sighed. "But I can't let myself get out of shape. I've gotta keep trained up, right? Would you want me going back out there without being at my best?" He asked. Roxy grumbled at that. "Well you don't have to go at all." She reminded. Cane's palm collided with his forehead, as he once again went to great detail to explain to his mother the reasons for his insistence on redeployment.

Ashley strolled pleasantly down the walkways, dancing down the street, until she found her mother's bakery, and already, from inside, she could hear arguing. The fox stopped short at the door, and for a moment, hesitated to knock, afraid to interrupt a fist fight, but then, she knocked, and immediately, the arguments ceased. In what seemed to be a second, the door swung open, and Cane stood there. "Morning…" He grumbled. Ashley almost giggled at that, but instead walked inside, and around her steamed brother. "Wow, you two sure are getting along well." She joked, sitting at the chair that Cane had been on a moment before. Noticing this, the wolf slid another chair to that side of the table, and hunched forward, with his elbows supporting his weight, and his chin in his hands. "Yeah, it's nothing, just a little disagreement." He assured. Roxy sighed, and nodded. This sort of thing happened all the time between Cane and his mother. Roxy had always said they were too much alike. It was hard to argue that logic. "I was thinking we could all do something together today." Roxy spoke up, past the otherwise silent room. This seemed to interest all present, though Cane's interest was more of a dread. "I just spent six months in a war zone, can't we just keep it casual, you know, no schedules?" He asked. Roxy sighed. "You were just saying you wanted to go to a military base. You didn't seem to have any problems with schedules then, did you?" Cane had to admit she'd gotten him. "Well played, but still, I don't know about a big group thing…" But as he tried to find another argument in his favor, the phone rang. Roxy jumped up and quickly answered, obviously keen on the idea of Cane not getting another say in the matter. "Oh, Bernie?" She asked. Cane raised a brow. Looking to his sister for an answer, Ashley whispered to him, "Bernie's mom's best friend out here. She's actually Sonic the Hedgehog's mom." She shared. "Who's that?" Cane asked. Ashley face palmed, and sighed. 'You've spent too much time in the snow." She joked. Cane smiled, but still pushed the question. "Who's this hedgehog dude?" He asked. Once again, though Cane was frustrated by another interruption, coming in the form of his mother's voice. "That would be great! Cane just got home! Oh, I'm so excited to see you! Yeah, we'll _all_ be there." Cane noticed her emphasis, and just waived off Ashley's response. It didn't matter who she was now, clearly this wasn't an optional thing anymore.

The Lake of Rings was surrounded by green grass and flowers. It seemed like half of the city was out here this morning, as Cane and his family strolled through the fields, and towards an open spot right by the water. Waiting there, already with a picnic blanket down, there were three hedgehogs, one a Robian. And one, obviously the son, was who Cane assumed to be this Sonic person. "Bernie!" Roxy giggled, grabbing the attentions of all three of the others. The other middle-aged woman there, a dark purple hedgehog with a yellow tuft of hair on her forehead, jumped up from her blanket, and hugged immediately to Roxy. "It's been too long, girl!" Bernie exclaimed. "And this must be Cane." She looked over Roxy's shoulder, and walked over, giving Cane a big hug as well. Cane chuckled nervously, not having expected such energy. "Yeah… Hey, you must be Bernie." He smiled. The hedgehog nodded. "You must be so tired! How was your deployment?" She asked. Cane shrugged. "Lots of fun, the usual." He nodded. "Where do I put this?" He held up the basket of food that Roxy had prepared.

That proved to be enough of an excuse for the conversation to shift away from Cane, and towards the chattering of two friends. Cane flopped down onto the blanket, and sighed. This was going to take a while. But as he got comfy there, another voice once again jolted him from his calm. "Hey, so you're this Cane, huh?" Opening his eyes, Cane smiled, nodding to Sonic, as he reclined against a nearby tree. "And you're this dude I'm supposed to know about, right?" Cane asked. Sonic chuckled, and nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of the Freedom Fighters up north." You had more pressing concerns to attend to." Cane nodded at that. "And now you're guarding my girl, huh?" He laughed. Cane raised his brows. "Pardon?" Sonic slapped his forehead. "Right, you don't know me, how could you know that I'm Sally's boyfriend. Well, yeah, Sally's my girl, so make sure she gets taken care of, 'kay?" Cane was still as confused as before. "Umm… Who's Sally?" Cane asked. Now Sonic's features turned as confused as Cane's. "The princess?" He shared. Cane now knew more than he had, but it didn't make any more sense. "I'm infantry, not a royal guardsman." Sonic's eyes widened, and suddenly, he snapped out of it. "Uh, y-yeah, no, okay, my mistake, do we have any chili-dogs?" Cane wondered to himself if all people here were so bad at lying. Or changing the subject, in this case. Roxy handed Sonic a chili-dog, and the hedgehog turned to, and struck up a rushed conversation with his father, who Cane would later learn was named Charles.

It had been ten minutes of awkward conversation since that last event, and Cane was still sitting there on the blanket, trying to decipher in his mind what Sonic could know. "What's wrong?" Ashley asked, noticing the distressed look on her brother's face. "N-nothing…" Cane grumbled. "Oh, come on, something's wrong, don't you like Sonic?" She asked. "This whole moody thing started just after you talked to him." Cane wished he could just go get his head straight, but shook it instead. "No, he seems alright. He just said something…" Ashley raised a brow. "Like, offensive?" She asked. Cane chuckled, and snapped out of it. There was no use in moping here. He just needed to relax, and figure it out later. "No, nothing like that, I'm just off my game today." He grinned, grabbing a bun from the basket, and eating half the thing in one bite. Ashley giggled, and smiled. That was more like Cane.

Eventually tensions with Sonic decreased, and the group just seemed to listen in on Roxy and Bernie's conversations. But as they did, Cane moved over, closer to where Sonic was still leaning against the tree, and nudged him. The hedgehog looked down, almost nervously, and smiled. "Hey." He tried. Cane smiled. "Look, if you know something that I don't, especially something involving my life, I'd like to know." He asserted. The hedgehog sighed. "It's only fair." Cane added. Sonic had to agree with that, and so with one more second of doubt, he finally spoke up. "I thought you knew, last I talked to Amadeus, he was planning on calling you this morning and telling you…" Cane nodded, his eyes obviously urging Sonic to go on. "You're… Being transferred to the Royal Guard…"

The guards at the front of the palace stiffened as they saw the big, visibly angry wolf stomping up the stairs of the palace. But they knew he was the same from the days before, so almost reluctantly, they jolted the doors open, making damn sure not to interrupt his steady path to the office of Amadeus Prower.

But up in the corner of the lobby hall was a small, inconspicuous security camera. And it noticed the overbearing attitude of the newest visitor to the palace.

Cane moved forward, his eyes locked on the shiny golden plaque that marked Amadeus' office. He really didn't know what he was doing or why, all he knew was that that freaking fox was going to transfer him back to Mes Braves Battalion. But as he neared the door, a sudden flash of green erupted in front of him. The light halted Cane in his tracks, and he recoiled, as suddenly a beautiful young girl, a Mobian Lynx appeared out of thin air before him. "What the hell?!" Cane exclaimed, suddenly all but forgetting his anger, and wondering where this random girl had come from. "What are you doing, Cane?" The girl asked. "W-what?" Cane shook his head. "You seem rather angry, what were you planning on doing?" She insisted. But Cane still was baffled. "Forget that, where the hell did you come from?!" He exclaimed. The girl sighed, slightly annoyed by his sluggish response. "I am Nicole, the city AI, and Steward of New Mobotropolis. And I noticed you rather abrasively entering the palace." She reminded. Cane's brain was still too frazzled to really appreciate the first part of that, but he did, this time, gather the wit to answer the young lady's question. "Umm… Well, I was gonna talk with Amadeus Prower." He answered. "You need an appointment. Mr. Prower is very busy today." She asserted. But as Cane prepared for his rebuttal another little fragment of the last moments caught up with him. "Wait, how do you know my name?!" He exclaimed. Nicole was actually starting to find some form of entertainment in the wolf's confusion, and with a slightly annoyed, but still patient smile, she answered in a professional tone. "I am the city AI, I have records on all of our citizens, especially Royal Guardsmen." Cane suddenly slapped his hand over his face. First he'd charged randomly into the castle, and now this random ghost chick was here. "Do you need to sit down?" Nicole teased. Cane chuckled, and shook it off. "No, I'm cool, just…"

"Let him in."

Both Nicole and Cane turned, and spotted Amadeus, standing in the now open door of his office. "Yessir, Mr. Prower." Nicole smiled, and then faded away, Cane once again stood, baffled at that, but when Amadeus motioned the wolf inside, he followed suit.

Now Cane sat at the same chair, across the same desk from the same man as yesterday, but this time, he didn't feel any sort of obligation to conformity, so he instead cut straight to the topic at hand. "I need to be transferred back to Mes Braves Battalion." Cane asserted. The commander's eyes narrowed. "Respect your superiors, soldier." Amadeus' voice boomed, almost echoing as the wolf shrunk down for a moment. But then, he sat right back up, and met the fox's glare with one of his own. "Look, I didn't come here to your freaking bone china paradise to guard a bunch of snooty royals!" Cane growled. This time Amadeus shrunk, and unlike Cane, he did not regain any of his composure. "I appreciate fully the fact that you've let my family take refuge in your city, but I am NOT letting my two best friends fight it out with Eggman while I guard a door! If you want me to continue serving YOUR people, than you'd better let me at least partially serve MINE!"

There was complete silence. Amadeus' eyes seemed to glow red. His face was blushed as well, being put down by one of his underlings was a steady blow to the commander's ego, and it wasn't going to go unpunished. The commander stood, and with a sneer on his face, he sternly laid out the facts to Cane. "You are now on probation. Your pay will be cut for the next six months, and while I more than respect and admire the fact that you can stand up like that, I will NOT allow this sort of debauchery in my force, do you understand?!" Cane stood too, and with a hateful scowl, he saluted. "Yessir, understood." He assured. "Then you're dismissed. Report tomorrow at five O'clock."

Cane stomped out of the doors of the palace, and down the same steps. He couldn't believe how angry he was. He'd never been this angry before, in fact. Cane wasn't the type to lose his temper, but this was something else. This was disgusting. His gut seemed to turn the more he thought about it. How long would it be before he would be back up north? How would Kaya and Suzy feel?! None of this was fair, and though it was clear life never was, this situation felt almost exceptionally so. But once again, Cane almost jumped out of his skin, when suddenly, Nicole flashed into form right in his path. Cane groaned at her sudden appearance, and recoiled once again, but she didn't wait for him to recover. "What are you doing?!" She demanded. "Do you do that often?" Cane joked. Nicole didn't answer, and merely kept to her guns. "Cane, what was that?! That's not like you!" She asserted, but this only frustrated Cane more. "How do you know what is or isn't like me?!" He exclaimed. "You've known me for ten minutes!" Nicole sighed, and for a moment, seemed to be pondering whether or not to tell Cane something else. Cane couldn't believe it. Another secret? How much could go wrong yet today? "What is it?" He asked with a defeated sigh. "I don't know if I should tell you." She admitted. "Is it against your rules, or something?"  
"No, it's just… Hard to determine how you might react. You seem to be unusually irrational today."

For one reason or another, Cane suddenly felt calmer. Maybe it was just the girl's own calmness, or him just getting tired of being angry, but his shoulders suddenly relaxed, and he closed his eyes. Nicole noticed this, and a worried frown fell on her features. "Are you alright?" She asked. Cane nodded, and calmly opened his eyes. "If you're allowed to tell me, just tell me, I want to know."

Nicole was a little taken aback by the wolf's sudden focus on calmness, but smiled softly at it. "Okay…" She nodded, and with a nervous, almost embarrassed smile, she finally responded. "Um… Yesterday morning, when you were to return to New Mobotropolis, Sally was going over the recruitment reports. She came across yours, and it was marked as needing a mental review following the first deployment." She listed. Cane raised a brow. "What? Why?"  
"Because you were being deployed to a battle that held moral and historical values to you. Troops in this situation are more prone to stress, and therefore to mental conditions upon return to us." Cane sighed, and nodded, deciding against losing his cool again. That wouldn't help anybody. "Go on." He urged. "Well… She saw this, and had me run a history check. You have little to no information from your time before enlisting here, so instead of a history and medical check, she had me run metabolic scans once you got back to New Mobotropolis. I've been… Monitoring readings such as heart rate, muscle reactions, and subconscious eye movements during sleep…" This was where the blush came from. Cane raised a brow. "So that's why you think you know so much about me?" He asked, almost accusingly. "Well, no, I was assigned to monitor those things for the twenty-four hour period after you returned to New Mobotropolis, and I was tasked with paying especially close attention during your meeting with Commander Prower, but after that was done, out of curiosity, I tried to compile more information on you. For the database. So I searched through all of the news files and such. Your sister writes for the New Mobotropolis Times, and you were mentioned a few times there, as well as hear-say on the streets, mostly spread by your mother. Along with that, and your behavior during the last twenty-four hours, I've compiled a rather complete profile of you." Cane's mouth was almost hanging open. "So you're… Cyber-stalking me…" He chuckled. Nicole's cheeks turned bright red, and she almost violently shook her head. "N-no! Not like that, I was only making sure you were safe for redeployment! The whole thing was Sally's idea!" Cane almost laughed at the girl's sudden nervousness. "I was joking." He chuckled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. That, though only made Nicole blush harder. Cane noticed, and backed off immediately. "Listen, I'm not happy, but thanks for the answers." He sighed. "I have a lot of thinking to do…" Nicole nodded, and, still embarrassed, she retreated into the mainframe of her vast network.

This left Cane to walk home, the events of the morning in his mind. After all that had already happened today, he knew that he wouldn't have the energy to argue with his mother as to why he stormed out on the picnic earlier. So soon, as he walked through the front doors of his mother's home, and saw both Roxy and Ashley sitting, and chatting, he spoke up. "Listen, mom, I get it, I'm sorry I walked out earlier, but please, dear God, don't rag on me right now, okay? You can give me both barrels later, but… Just give me a minute to breathe, okay?"

Both Roxy and Ashley seemed surprised by Cane's appearance, let alone his little tangent, but neither protested as he dragged his feet across the room, and straight into his makeshift quarters. Letting himself fall onto his mattress, Cane let out a frustrated sigh. Closing his eyes, he tried to contemplate the sheer mass of things that had gone wrong today. His worries about losing his edge- not being capable or willing to redeploy- were far behind him. Now his redeployment in general was in question. There was no way in hell Cane was going to let there be no redeployment. If not for Ashley and his mother, Cane would just… Leave. Abandonment isn't something the Acorns would take lightly, and though he truly didn't give a rats ass what the Acorns thought, the fact was, his family would face deportation if he did leave the Army.

That still didn't sate the temptation. The thought that right now he could just pack up, and travel north, even if it would take a long time, was enticing. He wondered how Kaya was doing, yes, but his mind was pretty firmly set on Suzy right now. Was she alright? They'd been… Close before. It hadn't really panned out into a real relationship, but Cane still held strong feeling for her. And he knew this. Right now he just wanted to see her and Kaya, make sure they were okay. But that thought only drug Cane down more. So he instead just focused on sleep. The sky was still bright, but he needed to be unconscious for now, needed to stop thinking.

6


End file.
